If we have a business that relies on getting new customers, and those customers are humans, then we need to figure out a way for those humans to find us on the internet. Tom Casano is an expert in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). He founded an SEO company called Sure Oak. During our conversation, Tom dispels some of the myths of SEO performance and updates the limited knowledge that I have on SEO based on a book that I read in 2011.

Josh Steimle has built and rebuilt marketing agencies in the U.S. and now in China. He is currently living in Shenzhen, China while he builds a branch of his agency there. He’s had ups, and he’s had downs, but the strategy that he uses most successfully for his own brand is public relations, which is why I was really interested in talking with him for Episode 36.

I wanted to interview Darren after I read his book: “Marketing Like Jesus: 25 Strategies to Change the World.” After all, Darren was writing about two subjects I am passionate about, Jesus Christ and marketing.

People love to hate advertising. It’s interruptive, intrusive, offensive, and 90% of the time it’s irrelevant. But there’s one day in the year that advertising is celebrated.

It’s Superbowl Sunday. There’s something nostalgic about watching the super bowl for me. I have great memories of coming home after church to watch the vikings play (or lose, more precisely) when I was growing up. So watching football in general can bring me back to my childhood. But also, the way we watch the super bowl, a live event – one of the most watched tv events in America – has not changed like the way we watch other tv or movie content.

So, I’m dedicating this episode, Episode 33 of the Ictus Marketing Podcast to the Super Bowl Ads of 2016.

Whether you are running a business that longs to attract Christian consumers, or you are a person who wants to learn more about marketing from an expert, this podcast episode with Scott Shuford, the Founder and Chief Engagement Officer at FrontGate Media, will be of interest to you. His years of experience in marketing to both secular and more recently, Christian consumers can provide you with both ideas and an avenue to market your brand.

Scott is a founder and CEO of Buzzlogix. Buzzlogix is a social media monitoring tool that can provide a complete look at how a business is measuring up in their marketing methods. Buzzlogix does this by monitoring social media and also can automate social posting for businesses. Buzzlogix was hatched in 2014.

Frank Cowell believes that you have to wake up every day asking yourself, how can I serve my customers today?. With this kind of mindset, a small business owner removes themselves from the selling and marketing issues that feel icky. Instead, no matter what business you're in, your business is to serve people. Now your marketing has a clear path to serving a more noble purpose.

Marla has been where you are. Starting and operating your own business can be lonely, especially when things aren't going well. Whether we talk about it or not, there can be a sense of shame in not succeeding in business. We've all been there, and it's not unlikely that we will be there again some time in the future.

Since her early days as an image and personal brand consultant, Shauna started at least two other businesses. When she was ready to pass on some of the knowledge she had gained after working with clients, Shauna launched the Studio for Image Professionals – an online training program for people seeking to become certified image consultants. And just about a year ago, Shauna put together a team of super smart women to launch BestKeptSelf.com – a website magazine and community that publishes daily content devoted to helping women look their best, feel their best, and live their best life.

In our conversation, Jeff talks about how important it is for a person's core values to remain the same regardless of the role that they happen to be playing. In other words, it doesn't matter if you're leading your team at a corporate retreat or your watching your son's baseball game from the bleachers, you should always be operating on a standard set of core values that define who you are and how you conduct your life.

In this episode of the Ictus Marketing Podcast, we dive into their report and talk about the implications of the findings in the Infinite Dial 2014 Report published by Edison Research. I love this stuff. In a nutshell, online radio is growing fast, smartphones are ubiquitous, podcasts are gaining popularity, and Facebook is still very relevant.